Don's Party
by leaptad
Summary: This is a companion piece to Sunday Matinee. OC of Paul is from that fic. Set during freshman year of college. Both brothers live at home. Charlie attends CalSci, Don attends UCLA.
1. Default Chapter

Author: Alison

Title: Don's Party

Pairings: none

Summary: Ficlet concerning the brother's relationship. Set during their freshman year of college. The character of "Paul" is an OC introduced in Sunday Matinee.

Rating: PG

Spoilers: none

"Sylvia! SYLVIA!" bellowed Alan Eppes from the bottom of the steps.

"Okay, okay," she said, hurrying down.

Alan took the bag that was slung over her shoulder. "Come on, now. It's time to go."

She wrung her hands. "Are you sure we should do this?"

Exasperated, Alan placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to lead her to the front door. "Yes, yes, for the millionth time, yes."

She broke from him and scurried over to Charlie. "Do you think the boys will be okay?" She captured her youngest son in a hug, smothering him with kisses.

"Syl," Alan said firmly. "We are going away for the weekend. We're not sending them off to war." He walked over to Don, placing his face only and inch or two from the older son. "The house will be fine when we get back," he said, pointedly.

Don smiled confidently. "Aboslutely, pop," he said.

Sylvia released Charlie and grabbed Don. "Take good care of your brother and don't get into any trouble," she said, hugging him tightly.

"Syl, please," begged Alan. "They're both in college."

"Yes, but Charlie.."

"I know," Alan said. "Let's go." He bodily removed his wife from his oldest son and half-led, half-dragged her out to the car as she waved and blew kisses.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie watched them go, his hands thrust deep in his pockets. He wished he were going with them and not staying here with his brother, but this was his parents' vacation and he just had to deal with it.

No sooner had the car left the driveway than Don turned to Charlie. His face was like stone. Charlie swallowed hard. "Here's the deal," Don said gruffly. "I'm having a party tonight and you're not invited." Each time he said the word "you" he punctuated it by poking Charlie painfully in the chest. "You are staying in your room. You are staying out of my way. And you are not telling mom and dad. Got it?"

Charlie shrugged. "Got it." This was pretty much how he had expected this weekend to go.

Don stood for a moment, glaring at him. "Well?" he said.

Charlie sighed, turned and retreated to his bedroom. Once there, he flopped on the bed. It wasn't such a horrible thing, being confined to his room. He had an essay to write for his literature course that he could work on. Or he could plow through his math book. And his mother had bought him a copy of Buckminster Fuller's biography, which he was itching to read.

But after a couple of hours, Charlie grew bored. He opened the door to his room. There was no sound from downstairs. It was probably safe for him to venture out, as long as he stayed on the second floor. He snuck out of his room and down the hall to the solarium.

From here he could see the driveway. Don was there, as was Paul and a couple other of guys Charlie assumed were Don's friends. They were standing behind Paul's truck, trying to unload a keg of beer. Where it had come from, Charlie couldn't guess.

Charlie hated Paul. Paul was always trying to think of new and exquisite ways to torture him. Charlie basically considered him an over-grown preschooler and couldn't imagine why Don spent so much time with him. Maybe it was just because they had been friends for so long. They had known each other since Little League baseball.

Paul spotted him. He nudged Don and pointed to the solarium. Don scowled and started in the house, followed by Paul. Charlie quickly scooted back to his room.

The door burst open and Don stood there, his large frame filling the doorway. Paul's face was visible behind him, grinning like an idiot. "I thought I told you to stay in your room," Don said.

"I was just in the..." Charlie started, quietly, staring at his hands.

"I don't want you running around the house tonight. Just stay in your room, okay?"

"Okay," Charlie said quietly.

Don left, but was back just a few minutes later. "Here, you can have this." He tossed a bag of potato chips at Charlie. "Okay? Just stay in here."

Charlie shrugged. Paul pushed past Don and came into the room. "And, here, this should keep you busy. You can do my homework," Paul said. He tossed a textbook at Charlie. It slid off the bed onto the floor.

Charlie bent over to pick it up and saw the cover. Pre-Calculus. "I did this when I was eight," he muttered.

"What was that?" Paul roared. "What did you just say?" He charged at Charlie and slugged him three times in the arm in rapid succession.

Don grabbed Paul and began shoving him out the door. Charlie caught Don's expression. He was snickering at Charlie's comment. Charlie felt a little better all of a sudden despite his aching arm.

"Come on, don't worry about it," Don said. "Let's just get the keg inside."

"Watch it, freak," Paul said, pointing a finger at Charlie as Don pulled him into the hallway.

Charlie looked at Paul's book and contemplated his options. He wondered, if he did all the homework and got it all correct, would they accuse Paul of cheating? He didn't honestly think that Paul brought home straight A's.

He had a wonderful vision of Paul being hauled before an academic review board. A row of men in suits, all glaring at Paul who looked scared and helpless. "And how, exactly, did you manage to get everything correct, including the extra credit? Did you hire someone? And if so, who?"

Paul would be terrified, unable to force his feeble brain to come up with a plausible excuse. "It was my friend's little brother!" he would stammer, sweat streaming down his face.

"Ha! A likely excuse!" they would say. "You are expelled! Go flip burgers at the Burger Barn! It's all you'll ever be good for!"

And then Paul would be dragged out while everyone laughed at him. It was a nice fantasy. But, in the end, Charlie just left Paul's book alone. He could do his own damn work.


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie waited until well after dark to venture out of his room again. He carefully locked his room and his parent's room and placed the key in his pocket before creeping down the back stairs. He found a spot near the broom closet where he could observe undetected. No one saw him, and those that did didn't really care about the young boy crouched in the corner. They were too involved in their own lives. The lights were low and the music was loud. No one cared about him one way or the other.

Don was sitting on the couch making out with his new girlfriend, Rachel. Charlie liked her a lot better than Sandy, his cheerleader girlfriend from high school. Rachel didn't wear as much makeup, and she wore jeans instead of skirts. She was just, well, cooler than Sandy. And prettier too, in Charlie's estimation. He felt weird about watching his brother kiss someone, so he scanned the rest of the room.

Paul was in the corner, loudly talking to some other guys. His arm was casually laid around a pretty blonde with big boobs and a small top that showed them off. He didn't look at her or talk to her, except to send her for a fresh beer when his was empty.

He could see some people out by the koi pond, terrorizing the fish. A cheer went up from the crowd and Charlie realized with horror that one of Don's friends had actually caught a fish and was displaying it proudly, to the acclimation of all.

"Hey!" Charlie called out. He abandoned his perch and rushed through the living room and outside. "Don't do that! Put it back!" he commanded.

All of the people standing around the pond stopped and stared at him. Charlie suddenly felt very small and vulnerable.

The guy with the fish placed it back in the water. "Chill out, kid," he said. "I was just joking around."

Pain ripped through Charlie's neck. Paul had come from behind and yanked him back by the hood of his sweatshirt. Charlie was knocked off balance and toppled backwards, cracking his head audibly. He saw stars.

Paul and his buddies were standing over him, laughing. Charlie tried to get up, but Paul pushed him back down. He wrestled with Charlie for a moment, Charlie kicking and clawing, but it was no good. Paul was just too strong. He felt himself being lifted onto Paul's powerful shoulder and then dropped into the freezing water of the pond face down.

Fish smacked at him frantically as Charlie tried to find purchase on the slippery sides to right himself. He sat up, gasping for air as the muscular fish slapped him with their scaly bodies, wanting him out of their home. Charlie looked up. Everyone was laughing at him. Tears burned his eyes, but he fought them back.

"You like hanging out with the fishies?" Paul mocked.

Charlie looked at his big, dumb face. He longed to punch him, but it would only result in more humiliation. He looked Paul dead on. "It beats hanging out with a shaved ape," he snarled.

Paul lunged forward, but this time Don intervened. "Just leave him alone, man. What's wrong with you?" Don said. He offered Charlie a hand out of the pond, but Charlie refused it.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" asked Rachel, Don's girlfriend. Charlie ignored her. He climbed out of the pond and tore back upstairs. He was afraid for a minute that he had lost the key to his room in the water, but it was still in his pocket. It was just hard to get at with his jeans soaked.

He changed into dry clothes and once again sat on his bed. He opened the bag of chips Don had given him earlier and began to eat.

There was a knock at his door. "Charlie? Charlie, can I come in?" The voice was feminine. He was pretty sure it was Rachel.

"Go away," he said. He didn't really mean to be rude to her, but he wanted this night to be over.

"Come on, please?"

Charlie sighed and opened the door. "Paul's gone. Don threw him out," she offered. Charlie nodded. It actually made him feel pretty good to hear. "Do you want to come downstairs?"

Charlie shook his head. "Nah. I'm just going to..."

"Please?" she said, taking his arm and pulling him forward. "Come on. Please? I really want you to."

Charlie finally complied. Rachel always seemed pretty nice. He doubted she was trying to play a trick on him. She led him to the couch and offered him a bottle of root beer. He took it and sat down with her beside him.

The blonde with big boobs rushed over and sat on the other side. "Are you okay? He is such a bully," she exclaimed, stroking his hair.

Don plopped down in the chair across from him. "Hey, buddy," he said, sipping a beer. "How'd you end up on the couch with my girlfriend?" A smile broke over Don's face.

Charlie smiled back, not sure what to say.

"I liked your line about Paul being a shaved ape," Don continued. "I couldn't agree more. Sorry your first college party sucks."

Charlie contemplated for a moment. He was sitting on a couch between two very pretty and very warm girls. They were both preening and fussing over him which, when his mom did it, he usually hated but right now didn't mind. And his brother was sitting across from him, having an actual conversation with him.

"Actually, it isn't that bad," he said.


End file.
